AAJA-NY Inaugural Trivia Bowl

When we asked Supreme Court Judge, the Honorable Doris Lin -Cohan, if this was the most fun she had judging an event ever, she said yes.

The Asian American Journalists Association of New York’s (AAJA-NY) inaugural Trivia Bowl fundraiser kicked off at ABCTV 1 Studio Friday, May 18th. The event matched wit with dollar amounts raising money $16,000 for j-school student scholarships and internships, and professional journalist stipends and programs.

Sixteen teams competed — from the New York Times, CNN, Asian American Bar Association to the CUNY Association of Black Journalists — to win the coveted Tea Cup trophy and bragging rights. Real judges from the New York area including the Honorable Marilyn D. Go, and the Honorable John Lansden, scoring the answers and ABC News Correspondent Juju Chang and FOX 5 reporter Ti-Hua Chang hosting the evenings festivities. LA transplant, now New Yorker Leezel Tanglao of ABC News and Bao Ong, freelance food writer co-chaired the exciting event. Aside from the mind-grinding trivia, there were live auctions and raffle drawings. The most talked about prizes included a signed Jeremy Lin basketball, which went for $650, and raffle drawings for hotel stay for two at the Kitano ($1200 value) and two round trip tickets anywhere from Virgin Airlines ($2,918 value).

As for the trivia, the Asian American Bar Association seemed destined to win, as they were leading through through the first three rounds, but it was the New York Times who ended up slaying the lawyers. The New York Times won the Tea Cup trophy, the Asian American Bar Association came in 2nd, and ABC came in 3rd. Jamba Juice came in last winning ramen noodles, and Juju Chang joked that someone must have spiked their juice.

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a AAJA is a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization focused on diversity in the newsroom and in the news. The New York Chapter is the largest of AAJA’s 21 chapters, with 250+ members. AAJA-NY’s Trivia Bowl co-chairs and lead organizers are Leezel Tanglao of ABC News and Bao Ong, freelance food writer.